ASX Release
18 December 2018
Atari® partners with Animoca Brands to make blockchain versions of Atari games RollerCoaster Tycoon® Touch™ and Goon Squad™
Highlights:
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Animoca Brands partners with Atari to make blockchain versions of the popular mobile games RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch and Goon Squad
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Atari, established in 1972, is a pioneering brand in video games, game consoles, personal computers, and game publishing
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RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch has over 19 million downloads and is part of the popular RollerCoaster Tycoon theme park simulation video game franchise
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Atari will take an upfront consideration of US$250,000 for the licencing deal in scrip at A$0.11 per share, becoming a strategic shareholder in Animoca Brands
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Animoca Brands will share the Games’ revenue with Atari after the first US$500,000 of gross revenue
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MOU executed with Atari to develop a strategic partnership to explore ongoing opportunities in gaming, product development, blockchain, and other areas
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ASX: AB1, the “Company”), is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Animoca Brands Limited has entered into a license agreement (the “Agreement”) with Atari Interactive, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari SA (XPAR: ATA, NASDAQ: PONGF, “Atari”), one of the world’s most famous producers of interactive entertainment. The Agreement grants Animoca Brands the rights to produce and publish blockchain versions (the “Games”) of the popular Atari® mobile game titles RollerCoaster Tycoon® Touch™ and Goon Squad™ globally (excluding Greater China).
At the same time, Animoca Brands and Atari also entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop a strategic partnership to explore mutual opportunities in gaming, product development, blockchain, and other areas.
Atari is an interactive entertainment company with a powerful IP portfolio in the video game industry, including history-making franchises such as Asteroids® and Pong®. Since 1972, the iconic Atari brand has enjoyed global appeal across multiple generations, and is still going strong today with four core business units: Atari Games, Atari Casino, Atari VCS, and Atari Partners. Atari has reported profitable revenue growth since 2013.
RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch is a popular theme park management simulation game for iOS and Android devices, with over 19 million downloads globally. It is one of the recent instalments in the video game franchise RollerCoaster Tycoon, which since 1999 has spawned several top-ranking sequels and spinoffs across multiple platforms including PC, mobile, and game consoles.
Goon Squad is a card-based, multiplayer brawler video game for iOS and Android devices, launched in 2017, in which players navigate an underworld ruled by mobsters and fast-paced card battles in order to build the ultimate criminal empire.
Based on the Agreement, Animoca Brands will produce and publish blockchain-based versions of RollerCoaster Tycoon and Goon Squad worldwide (excluding China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau); the new titles will feature the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The term of the Agreement extends through to 31 March 2022.
The Company expects to begin publishing the Games in the latter half of 2019.
Commercial details
As consideration for the license to develop and publish the Games, Animoca Brands will pay to Atari a minimum guarantee against future revenues of US$250,000, payable in shares of the Company’s stock at a price per share of A$0.11 (amounting to 3,125,000 ordinary AB1 shares); this fee is recoupable against revenue generated by the Games. A revenue share will be payable to Atari after gross revenues generated by the Games exceed a total of US$500,000.
The shares offered in consideration to Atari will be subject to a lock-up period of nine months from the effective date, and will be released from lock-up in a phased schedule extending through 31 August 2019.
The Company will issue the new shares utilising its existing placement capacity under ASX listing rule 7.1.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “This deal marks a special moment for me because I started my career working with Atari and using Atari computers. The RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is, like many of Atari’s properties, a true evergreen, having been around for two decades. Given the strategic and commercial elements of this incredibly fun simulation, it is a perfect candidate for blockchain adaptation.”
Frédéric Chesnais, the main shareholder and CEO of the Atari Group, commented: “We are proud and delighted to enter into this long-term and strategic relationship with Animoca Brands, which also allows us to become a shareholder in one of the most exciting innovators in the world of decentralized gaming. We hope that this agreement paves the way to further cooperation on other Atari products.”
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About Atari
Atari, comprised of Atari SA and its subsidiaries, is a global interactive entertainment and multiplatform licensing group. The true innovator of the video game founded in 1972, Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including globally known brands such as Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command® or Pong®. From this important portfolio of intellectual properties Atari delivers attractive online games for smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices. Atari also develops and distributes interactive entertainment for Microsoft and Sony game consoles. Atari also leverages its brand and franchises with licensing agreements through other media, derivative products and publishing. For more information: www.atari.com and www.atari-investisseurs.fr. The Atari shares are listed in France on Euronext Paris (Compartment C, ISIN FR0010478248, Ticker ATA) and are eligible for the Nasdaq International Designation program in the United States (OTC Market - Ticker PONGF).
Contact
Atari - Philippe Mularski, CFO Calyptus - Marie Calleux
Tel +33 1 83 64 61 57 - pm@atari-sa.com Tel + 33 1 53 65 68 68 – atari@calyptus.net
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands (ASX: AB1) leverages gamification, blockchain, and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Garfield, Thomas & Friends™, Ever After High and Doraemon. Animoca Brands is the exclusive China distributor of CryptoKitties. The Company is based in Hong Kong, Canada, and Finland. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or get updates by following Animoca Brands on Facebook, Twitter or Google +.